Of The Winter and The Spring
by FireLilly05
Summary: Jack Frost is about to make a new friend! Who knew that Pink Pansies in the snow would be so much of fun? I do not own ROTG. This idea was mine,etc. Just a short one-shot - my first ROTG. tell me what you think!
Flowers in the Snow

Jack was pretty sure that telling him to chill wasn't the smartest thing ever. So he decided that the bunny was trying to be funny instead of clever when he said it. But seriously, how could he calm down over the fact that somebody was growing Roses, Tulips and Lilly's in the town he had currently snowed in.

Maybe he was just shocked over the fact that they were actually growing through the snow. Somebody hadn't dug them out. Nobody had planted them in the snow. They were literally growing from the ground and tunnelling through the snow and popping out the top to glisten colourfully in the sunlight.

"Jack, maybe Bunny is right, it's probably nothing," Tooth said, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder as baby tooth nodded vigorously.

"There are Roses growing through three feet of snow in Denver," Jack reiterated slowly.

"Oh! Well, uhm...," Tooth drifted, thinking it over.

There was a moment of silence as the Guardians mulled the situation over. Jack wished that Sandy was there. He probably knew something – he was the Sandman. Though how Santa Clause would –

"I'm thinking that maybe is little Spring pulling a prank on you Jack Frost," North said suddenly as he sipped some egg nog.

"Spring? Oh you mean Flora," Bunny said with a small gleam in his eye. "That same quiet girl who helps me hide my eggs in the Spring time?"

"That's the one!" North exclaimed with a booming laugh.

Jack scratched his head with his staff before saying, "I've never seen anyone else around when you hide your eggs."

Bunny stared at him, "Well maybe you weren't looking."

"Come to think of it," Tooth said, "I've never seen this girl either. What are you two hiding?"

"Nuthin' actually. You two just don't use your eyes well enough, not that you usually take interest in my egg hunts anyway," Bunny said casually. "And not to mention the lack of carrot – "

"Ok Peter cotton tail we get the message," Jack said with a smile before waving at them all. "I'm heading out, see ya!"

Man that Bunny had some strange helpers. Jack thought as he floated over some random town. I mean, why would somebody grow flowers in the snow? What was the point?

'Hey where do you think you're going? He thought as the blizzard began to blow over. 'I don't think you're quite done yet.'

Within minutes there was snow blanketing the town in a soft white powder. Jack smiled and dropped in to check on the most recent snow ball fight when something strange caught his eye.

'Ah, you've got to be kidding me!' Jack thought as he flew over to the stubborn patch of purple and pink pansies that had grown through the thick layer of snow and popped up on the white. Jack sat on his staff and stared at the patch curiously. It was obviously grown in a very short space of time so the culprit couldn't be that far away, he thought as his gaze searched the soft white terrain. When there continued to be nothing interesting happening, Jack simply stood and shrugged.

"Well I guess there's no point hanging around here," he said. Jack turned to leave and took off into the sky but not before dumping another large pile of snow onto the pink little pansies. IT's too bad he took off that fast. Otherwise he would have heard the quiet giggling and soft 'POP' as the pansies once again reappeared at the top of the snow mound.

"Awww but Mr Bunnymund," a small girl with bright green eyes and warm brown hair whined softly.

"I'm not the biggest friend of the snow cone either," Bunny said putting a hand on the child's head, "but maybe you should take it down a notch."

Flora pouted and crossed her arms before sighing, "Well ok."

"Atta girl," Bunny said with a smile. "So next time you run into the mischief maker, you apologize a'right?"

"Yes, Mr Bunnymund," Flora said with a sigh as she grabbed a basket and began running after dtray eggs.

Bunny sighed as he watched the small child forget about everything and play. If that kid ever became a guardian, she'd definitely have innocence as her "centre".

"What's up Bunny?" Jacks head suddenly appeared in Bunny's face.

"Wah!" Bunny exclaimed, falling over branch. "Ah, put sock it in," he said standing up as Jack began laughing.

"So what was all the fuss about that you wanted me down here?" Jack asked, finally standing on the ground.

"Yeah well, you wanted to meet the little prankster didn't ya?" Bunny asked.

That piqued Jack's interest. He followed Bunny to the top of the hill and looked around. Nothing looked strange down here. Flowers and plants and colours were all a norm here in the Warren so, at first, Jack didn't notice anything that stood out. A small high pitched scream had them whip their heads to the side. A small girl with brown hair and green eyes was sitting on the floor with an egg in her hands. She smiled at it and stood before popping it in a basket.

Dusting her hands on her flower like pink dress she pushed her straight silky air off of her face and pulled a headband over her head. She looked like she was only 9.

"That's the prankster?" Jack inquired. "She's a kid!"

"Well, she's been a kid for a while. That dress is actually a tulip by the way," Bunny said.

"She looks…" Jack trailed off. ' _She looks pretty similar to my sister,'_ he thought to himself.

"Well she's older than you," Bunny explained. "Flora's been around for a long time. Her twin brother, Faun, is about somewhere but there you have it. That little blighter's the one that's been colouring your snow."

"I'll go talk to her," Jack said.

"If you can find her," Bunny said as Flora suddenly disappeared into the foliage.

"Ah c'mon! Thanks Bunny, I owe you one," Jack said taking off.

"Yeah, yeah," Bunny said dismissively as he went back to look for lunch.

Flora was having way too much fun.

She had promised Bunny that she would apologize the next time she saw Jack but that seemed like it would be a long time away. Although she didn't really look it, she and her brother, Faun, were as old as Pitch Black. They had been around a long time and it had been a while since she had anyone besides her brother to really play with.

She ducked under a branch, having already made her way out of the Warren, and headed for the Tree House. She was almost there too, except a chill wind had her suddenly slipping down a lane of ice and sliding into the great trunk of her home.

She laughed as she righted herself. "That was awesome let's do it again!" she exclaimed turning around to look at towards the direction she came from.

"Well we could but that's not why I followed you here."

Flora's eyes widened and she gulped as she realized that Jack Frost was standing on the ice lane she had slipped down. "Oh, oh," she whispered to herself.

"Nah, it's ok. I'm not gonna hurt you or anything," he said with a smile, taking a seat on the top of his staff. "Was just curious as to who or what was taking my mischief making post and why."

"I really didn't mean anything by it. I'm sorry," Flora began. "It's just been a long time since I could have any real fun with anyone. The others are always so serious. I just thought it was funny, just a harmless prank," she continued, tracing patterns in the sand with the tip of her ballet slipper. "I just wanted somebody to play with."

Jack smiled kindly at the little girl. "It's ok," he said hopping down and kneeling in front of her. "I think it was a pretty cool prank. I had no idea what was going and thinking back it was pretty funny. Besides, I'm all about fun! Who do you think I am, the crazy Kangaroo?"

Flora giggled happily, "Then, Jack Frost will you be my friend?"

Jack patted her on the head, "Of course! But maybe," he continued, watching her yawn and rub her eyes. "It's time for you to get to bed. Where do you stay anyway?"

Flora smiled innocently and pointed upwards. Jack looked up and gaped. Behind Flora was a very large, very well-rounded Tree.

It was impossible to tell what kind of tree it was. Each branch looked like it was growing something different and it spread wide to create a huge canopy. Looking down the trunk, Jack saw all kinds of little animals scurrying about. The base of the tree sported 2 doors, one had flowers carved in and the other had animals. Spreading outwards on the ground were different varieties of plants all intermingling and thriving into forest of mixed trees.

"Welcome to the Garden, Jack. This is my home, the Tree House," Flora explained. "Hmm, looks like brother isn't home yet."

As they walked to the doors, the floral popped open and the sweet smell of flowers wafted out and a warm like shone out. Little creatures began dancing about as they entered.

"These are the sprites, they're my little helpers," Flora explained.

"Wow," Jack whispered as he looked about the inside of the huge tree. "Wait a minute. I thought only the Guardians had helpers."

"Well, yeah, everyone believes really strongly in the Guardians so they have bigger base and stronger magic but we're pretty old, we just gathered the help of woodland creatures that were already there," a small boy's voice said.

"Big brother!" Flora yelled and hugged him.

"Hiya," Jack said to the boy. "You must be Faun.

He nodded and blinked curiously. "Yep, I'm Flora's twin brother."

"Jack said he'll be our friend!" Flora exclaimed excitedly.

Jack watched in both surprise and quiet joy as the boy's eyes lit up with excitement. He played with them until they were both too tired to move. Tucking them in he couldn't help the happiness he felt.

He quietly stepped outside, "Whew, time to go home."

With that Jack allowed himself to be carried away by the wind from the little Garden of Spring to his own Winter Palace in the clouds.


End file.
